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The Science Behind Your Reaction to Art
The Honolulu show features twenty artists and was built with a brain health institute; it opens with a dark room of bead brain scans.
On air: Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield on BBN OvernightPublished
Photo: LFL16 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 2.0Watch it as it aired: Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from BBN Overnight at 12:23 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are The New York Times's, the jokes are ours.
At a glance
- First reported by The New York Times: “The Science Behind Your Reaction to Art”, with reporting from Honolulu Magazine and Maverick Grotto (republished article).
- Covered on BBN on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 12:23 AM ET on BBN Overnight, by Gloria Vance and Kenji Moonfield.
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- The New York TimesThe Science Behind Your Reaction to Art
- Honolulu MagazineA New HoMA Exhibit Explores Your Brain on Art facts used on air
- Maverick Grotto (republished article)How Art Boosts Brain Health: Science Behind the Honolulu Museum Exhibit (2026) facts used on air
What BBN said about it
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA museum in Honolulu has opened an exhibition about what happens in your brain when you look at art, and the findings are, frankly, unsettling.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe New York Times says the Honolulu Museum of Art is showing how art shapes mood and perspective, as part of a trend of museums mixing science and art.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorTwenty artists. Ruth Asawa, Chuck Close, Georgia O'Keeffe. Each one, I must assume, knew exactly what they were doing to us.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThey were painting, Gloria.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorVisitors first enter a dark, moody room. There, they are shown brain scans made from beads. I would like that room investigated.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt's a dark room with beads in it. The chief curator, Catherine Whitney, says the show is about sharing the latest research on art's impact on the brain.
Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe next stop is a parasympathetic reset area, with a breathing box. The state of your nervous system is now a gallery matter.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentIt's a box you breathe near. The show runs September twelfth to January tenth, with a brain health institute helping.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentDark moody room first, then a reset. That's just my feed after midnight.
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Photo: Manfred Werner ( talk · contribs ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Thursday, October 29, 2026 · the U.S. archive · all months
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